All he needs is some closure!
by ar001
Summary: 5 years after his last exposé, Dan Humphrey is now a celebrated personality. He is rich,famous, has his family by his side. He is happy, but there is something missing, and he can't understand what. Until someone decides to take things to their own hand and give him the happiness he truly deserves. Will they be able to do it? Will Dan Humphrey be happy in the way he deserves to be?
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Dan Humphrey looked at the final chapter of his series. He re-read it for what might have been the hundredth time. It might have seemed as obsessive; but he just wanted it to be perfect. The other parts of his series had created a ruckus in his life, well technically in the lives of his so called "friends". However, today they all hated him, but for all he cared. As he saw it, he was merely being professional. Yes this was the same Dan Humphrey who until recently cared about all these people, so much so that he even fought with his childhood best friend Vanessa over them. Vanessa was probably right about these people; they would never let him in. It had always been about them and their world, and would always be. Some things just never change. But that didn't make Vanessa any less of a bitch.

He stopped caring for all these people the day Serena tricked him into making a sex-tape and Blair Waldorf left him for Chuck Bass, yea that's right he thought, Chuck Bass. The mere thought of it revolted him. In a way it was good he thought; it made him a different person. Anyone who knew Dan Humphrey few years ago would never believe that this was the same guy, the one who cared about everyone around him, the loving, thoughtful and caring guy.

He leaned back in his chair, so that he could see himself in the mirror, he wanted to check out his wound. Making a mental note of Nate's strength, he noticed that the wound had swollen up a bit now. He always knew that it would end like this, he had it planned, well he most certainly did not imagine the punch and least of all from Nate, if anything he would have thought that either Blair or Chuck would get physical. But they didn't. He then looked at the other set of papers on his desk. He had received them a couple of days ago, and that day, after what seemed like an eternity but in reality was only a few days he felt ecstatic. But when it hit him that he had no one to share it with other than Georgina, he came crashing back to the bitch that's called reality. The only one he wanted to share it with then was his little sister Jenny, but she had her examinations, and if he had told her the news then she most certainly would get so excited and stop studying. So he waited until after her examinations, and true to his guess she was excited, with Jenny's reaction excited would be an understatement.

"_Dan! That's amazing", said Jenny Humphrey when her brother told her that he had been accepted for an English Honors Programmme at Oxford._

_That meant he would join her and Eric in London. After being banished by Blair, Jenny lived with her mother till she finished school, and was now in London doing a course on fine arts and Eric was studying Economics and Management. _

"_Wow! This is so exciting, I can't wait to see you…and Wait till I tell Eric this, and he'd be delighted." said Jenny not making any effort to control her emotions._

_Dan thought for a moment, about what Jenny said and wondered if it would be ok if Eric knew, of course Eric was the only one on the UES who was never mean to him, but he was still them._

"_We can show you around and-Dan? Are you there?" Jenny, who was blabbing away, realized something was wrong._

"_No Jenny I was just thinking-"_

_Jenny who realized what the problem was asked, "you don't want me to tell him yet, do you?"_

"_No, it's ok, you can tell him, but ask him not to discuss it with the others" he said emphasizing on the word others, "besides Dad probably needs to know about this before anyone else in spite of what he's currently doing, or rather should I say who he's doing", spat Dan, he still couldn't erase the image of his father, the ideal man in bed with Ivy Dickens, the con artist._

_Jenny let out a sigh of exasperation, "Oh Dan would you let it go already, he seems happy so let him be, and after all he's been through with mom, me, Lily and lately even you, he deserves to be happy"_

"_But it's Ivy! You have no idea what a conniving bitch she can be "exclaimed Dan._

"_Seriously Dan, you think I of all the people wouldn't know what a conniving bitch is? I've had enough experience Dan; now I can tell a bitch when I see one."_

_Dan let out a snort, it was true, he hadn't realized how mature his rebellious, evil younger sister had suddenly become, and though he hated Blair for banishing her, he couldn't have been more happier of what she was today, and he was glad that Jenny was away from the UES, who knows what they would have done to her._

_As he saw his date approach him, he told her goodbye and promised to tell Rufus when he could._

* * *

Finally the time had come, he was going to tell Rufus about his admission into Oxford. He went out of his room to see Rufus sitting at the counter in the dining room, with a coffee mug in one hand and was turning the pages of what seemed like a photo album, he stopped at one particular page and looked at it in a longing manner. As he moved forward he got a clear view of the photo, it was taken on the day of the wedding of Rufus and the love of his life –Lily, Lily VanderWoodsen, Lily Bass, you could call her whatever you wanted, but the truth still remained that she had dumped Rufus. The photo had the newlyweds, Dan, Jenny and Scott in it, pretty much all the people that meant the world to Rufus.

"Dad", he called out.

Rufus jerked back in surprise which made him spill coffee over the counter, luckily the album remained unaffected.

"Are you in the middle of something?" Dan asked, "I have something to tell you."

"No, I was just- what was it that you wanted to tell me, another expose is it?' he asked trying to make a joke.

"No", smiled Dan, "I got accepted for an English Honors programmme at Oxford", then he added "It's a scholarship"

"That's incredible son", said Rufus getting on to his feet and hugging Dan. He was happy for him, and though his children almost always made him proud, he had never been as proud of Dan as he was now. He was proud of both his kids for getting into one of the world's best colleges. Though he himself had been unlucky in almost everything in life including his career and love life, he was happy that the life of his kids was shaping up. Though he feared that Dan was becoming cynical and would probably never believe in human relations again, somewhere deep down he knew he'd find his way.

"I have to leave in two weeks", said Dan pulling out of the long embrace his father had pulled him into.

"Two weeks? How long has it been since you got the letter?"

"More than a month ", he said sheepishly, he was hoping it wouldn't come up, but it did.

"Oh!" said Rufus trying to hide the pain; he realized that it was probably because of him and Ivy that Dan didn't want to tell him the news. "Look Dan I'm sorry for what happened, I really am, I was a fool and should have listened to you".

"It's ok Dad and I guess I'm sorry to for that piece in the Spectator and also for all the things I said to you when I came to collect my stuff.

"Well apology accepted! Now that both of us have apologized and forgiven each other what do you say about a little celebration?"

"Hells to the yes!"

"So how about we get some popcorn, pizza, beer and a movie? You go get the Pizza and I'll go bring a DVD and make some popcorn and we meet here again in say 20 minutes"

"Sounds like a plan!"

Dan picked up his wallet and the keys and headed to get the pizza. While Rufus tried to pick a DVD from his collection, when he stumbled upon a small piece of paper, it looked like the writing of a 6 year old, Rufus instantly recognized it as Dan's. It was a poem he had written for Rufus and talked about Rufus being the best Dad in the world, it had brought tears to his eyes, though Allison was upset that he didn't write anything about her. To keep his mother's heart Dan wrote a poem for her, after some consideration he wrote one for Jenny as well. Though she couldn't really understand it that well at her age, what if she started crying for one too , better safe than sorry, Dan had told Rufus. He had recently learnt phrase and liked it, so he tried using it. Rufus was proud of Dan, at the age of 6 his boy had the vocabulary of what most teenagers didn't have. Dan was smart and loving, he loved his family and hated to see them sad, he had always been like that, like it was his duty to protect all of them. That's exactly why Rufus was shocked when Dan said all those hurtful things to him when he came to collect his stuff.

"_Dan? What are you doing in here? " asked Rufus when he walked into his son looking for something in what was previously his room._

"_Oh Nothing, I just came here to get some more of my stuff, I'd forgotten it the last time. I'll be out of here in a while, so you can do whatever you want to do then" he said with a straight face._

"_Look Dan, you need to understand-"_

"_It's ok Dad, I don't want to and I definitely don't think that I need to understand anything. I get it, it's your life and you can do what you want to"_

"_Dan this is not about me, it's about you and what you've become. This is not you, you are not the calculating, back stabbing, cold blooded guy that you have become, you're better than this, We Humphrey men are the giving type, we love deeply and we forgive people and we are defiantly not the scheming type. You and I both-"_

"_You know what Dad enough of all that crap, we-you and I are most positively not the same, at least I know I don't want to be like you someone who gets walked over by everyone, I've had enough of being the good guy and I most certainly don't want to be a like you-a Loser!",__Dan cursed himself for having said that aloud, but emotion got the better of him and he couldn't possibly take the words back even if wanted to. His guilt increased when he saw the look on his father's face, it was blank, like he had been stabbed. He knew he was being dramatic but he swore it looked like the look on Julius Caesar's face when his loyal friend Brutus stabbed him._

"_I think I need to go now", he said, walking out and cursing himself again for the choice of words the second time. Why didn't 'sorry' come out of his mouth at that time? Though he wasn't pleased with his father at present, he never meant to say what he did. In spite of everything, Dan loved Rufus, infact it was because of that love and respect for him, that he felt betrayed when he saw him with Ivy. He wished things could go back to normal; Rufus was the only one around who he could call family, but now even that seemed to have been destroyed. But now what was done was done, he couldn't do anything about it._

_Rufus stood still where he was, motionless, it hadn't completely sunk in yet, that his very own son would call him a loser. The son that he had brought up, the one that shared his blood, the one that he had loved all his life more than anything in the world, the one that he had given up his career for, the one who shared everything with him, the one that he still loved and will still love in spite of anything. Damn these ties and bonds, he thought._

Rufus was brought back to reality when the he heard a sound in the kitchen. That must be the popcorn he thought, and picked up a DVD, it seemed perfect for this little family reunion.

As he filled the bowl with popcorn and pulled out beer out of the fridge, Rufus thought about Dan, about how he had changed. Rufus knew that though Dan would never accept it, he essentially was the same guy who thought it was his duty to protect the people he loved. Dan would probably say that he didn't love anyone anymore, other than Jenny and Rufus, but that was not true. This very afternoon Mrs. Kerr, the old neighbor, told him that when Dan coming over to invite him for Thanksgiving, she'd fainted while returning from some grocery shopping and, it was Dan who carried her back, got her some water to drink and food to eat and he even offered to cook for her, and invited her over for Thanksgiving dinner that he was hosting with Serena. Rufus knew that time was the best and probably the only medicine to get the old Dan back, well that and probably a nice wonderful girl away from the UES. Thank god he was moving to London. His stream of thoughts was broken by Dan, who came in with a pizza.

* * *

"I brought pepperoni with extra cheese"

"Sound delicious, so we get started?" asked Rufus.

"Yup", said Dan, "YOU selected this movie?" he asked looking at the DVD of _The Pursuit of Happyness, "_looks like someone's in the mood for some melodrama"

"Uh-hu"

"Hey Dad, I know I've done this before but I wanted to say something"

Rufus looked up from his beer to look at his son, like he was waiting for something.

"I'm sorry for all those things I said to you and I apologize from the bottom of my heart, again"

"That's alright son, is that all?"

"No actually I was wondering, would you be alright all alone? I mean once I leave for London, we won't see each other for days"

Rufus laughed, "Yes Dan, I'll be fine, thanks for asking though"

"Anytime Dad, But I was thinking that maybe you could fly down with me and stay there for the holidays. We could surprise Jenny"

"Sounds good Dan, yea I'd like that"

Rufus smiled, his faith in lif was restored. His son would be ok, and now he felt more confident than ever.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Realizations

Hey! I'm glad that you like the chapter. Here's the next chapter. I don't own Gossip girl or any of the other characters except Ariana(nee Brown) Humphrey

Ariana Humphrey paced around in the master bedroom of her penthouse in North Kensington; Notting Hill .She had just come back from the drug store, and was now nervous. She was late by a week and was worried. What would she tell her husband? What would he say? What would she say? Or feel? The stream of thoughts didn't seem to stop. She calmed herself down and prepared to take the test. Slowly she pulled the pregnancy kit out of the bag and prepared herself to take the test. She had to do it; she couldn't just sit around doing nothing. She couldn't skip another day of work faking illness. Her patients needed her, and she couldn't just sit at home for another day, it would drive her mad.

She went to the bathroom and took the test, now all she had to do was wait for five minutes, and she would know. She had considered telling her husband, but she didn't know how he would react, if she told him that she might be pregnant he would have either freaked out or been extremely happy, and would start considering names, redecorating the extra room into a nursery, tell their families, and then they would make a big deal out of it. Her father-in-law would fly down to the US, her parents who were enjoying a holiday in Thailand would cancel everything and come back to London, her sister-in-law would drive her crazy, phew, she thought to herself she definitely didn't need all that drama. Atleast not before she was 100 percent sure.

These thoughts lead her to the extra room they had, across the hall. In their 4 bedroom, penthouse, the master bedroom was meant for them, then there was a guest room and a study, apart from that they had an extra room. Clearly the extra room made no sense and she wanted to take an ordinary 3 bedroom flat, but her husband insisted on this one, so she gave in. It wasn't a big deal for her, sure she loved the idea of living in a penthouse, but they had just gotten married, and were not planning on starting a family immediately, so she didn't see the point in it. They were just using the room for storing stuff.

* * *

She walked around the room, she had never really bothered to look at her husband's stuffed, so today god knows why she stopped at one of the cabinets that had his stuff in it ; she opened it and saw that it served as a book shelf. She pulled out a carton from it, and saw that it had her husband's name inscribed on them '_Daniel Randolph Humphrey'._ When she opened it, she saw that it had all sorts of things in it, photos, albums, a few papers with writings, which she placed as her husband's a few DVD's, and a book, called the _Inside, _that was Dan's first ever book, he knew that he didn't want to publish it, but his once upon a time best friend Vanessa, had stolen it from him and gotten it published. She had read it once, only because Dan had asked her to and she had liked it. Even before Dan told her that the book wasn't entirely fiction, she had pictured Dan in her mind every time she read about Dylan, true he had changed from then, but in the true essence he was the same guy. As for the other characters she didn't really ask him who they were and what they meant to him. She still remembers that conversation from 5 years ago. It was pretty early into their relationship and they were walking around the streets of London aimlessly, after watching a play on Shakespeare's _As you like it_ , one of her all time favorites , when they met one of her exes. That meeting didn't go to well for anyone. It so turned out that the ex, Gerald Robinson wasn't too happy to see Ariana walking hand in hand with another man, and started discussing about the times that she had spent with him. Dan wasn't comfortable with it, and that's when he suggested her idea and she liked it. They decided that they wouldn't talk about each other's past, they were happy to be together in the present and that was that. They didn't care about each other's past. Her friends warned her against it saying, that he was keeping something dreadful from her, but she rubbished it. She knew Dan wasn't that kind of a guy, she still remembers the day they met vividly. It felt s like it happened just yesterday.

"_Wake up Ary, you're late!" screamed her roommate and best friend Rebecca Wilson._ "_Gosh Becky! It's only-", she said trying to look at the time on her phone, she rubbed her eyes to see if she was seeing the right time._ "_8?" her friend helped_ _Ariana got up from her bed screaming at her friend, "why didn't you wake me earlier?"_ "_Hello! What do you think I was trying to do since the last half an hour? Not my problem that you're such a heavy sleeper! Anyways you get ready and come to the registration office, and I'll keep the line for you, or see if I can get us both into the class, but this time it might be tough" she said _ _Ariana Brown had got dressed in 15 minutes, that was a record time for her, or any girl actually, on the way to the registration office, she got Rebecca's text that she couldn't get her in, as the candidates had to come and apply in person and that there were limited seats so she'd better hurry. Shit she thought to herself, there was no way that she would miss this opportunity, Ms. Mary Spencer, a renowned author, was taking a few classes on gender justice, and she desperately wanted to attend those classes, maybe after that she would even get a chance to work with her in her organization which works for the welfare of destitute women. She definitely needed, considering she was doing a course on Psychology and this would be a perfect beginning, agreed this was only her first year, but such opportunities don't keep coming again and again._

_When she saw the counter at e registration office she saw that there was no queue, great now she just had to get to the counter, with her fingers crossed she ran to counter, "Ms Spencer's class please"_ "_ 's class please"_ _That American accent made her turn and look at a young man, around her age, probably a bit older, he looked good, but tired and worn out, his hair looked a little messy, but in a good way, on top of all that, he was a guy and was taking a class on Gender Justice, and this class didn't even have extra credits, now how hot was that she thought to herself. _ "_Sorry, we have only one place left", said the woman at the counter._ "_I'm taking it", at once she said, looking at the woman and looked at him and said, "I'm sorry but it only seems fair that I get into the class, considering it's on gender justice, you can choose the class on cinema and theatre, if all you want to do is look at pretty girls", she said._ "_Excuse me! I'm sorry but that's not why I want to get into this class, I'm genuinely interested in this subject", said the guy. Ariana could feel a lull in her stomach, he really was interested, wow!_ _Then he went on to continue, "Well you know what I actually don't care what you think", then he turned to the woman at the counter, "I'm going to take it, please". This guy seemed to have been just coming out of a bad place, she thought the way he first tried explaining himself, but then tried to be strong and assertive._ _Realizing that the woman at the counter was looking at both of them, she reminded herself that this wasn't one of her psychology classes and scolded herself for getting distracted again._ "_Listen", she tried to explain to the guy, "I really need this class"_ "_So do I", said the guy_

"_Hey! So did you get in?" asked her best friend coming towards her, with two cups of coffee in her hand._ "_No!", she hissed, there seems to be a problem. Rebecca looked at the guy at the counter, and then at her, she understood the whole situation, "if only you had come earlier", she told her._ "_Ok, Becky, now's not the time for that, will you help me?", she asked. Meanwhile the guy was tried to tell the woman at the counter that he should be given one place, that was left_ "_Not so fast mister", said Rebecca, trying to take control, "What is your honors course?"_ "_English, why?"_ _Both the girls looked at each other and then at him._ "_Mine is psychology, it makes more sense for me"_ "_You have to be kidding me, that's ridiculous"_ "_What?". Soon enough they had started arguing and no one heard, the woman at the counter trying to say something, she then had to shout to make them shut-up, when they turned to look at her, embarrassed for their behavior._ "_If you're done fighting, may I inform you that, another place just opened up, since one of the students opted out of the class"_ "_Oh", three of them said in unison. _ "_Great, so here my papers", said Ariana sliding her papers in, the guy followed the cue and gave in his papers._ "_Good, classes start on Monday at 9 A.M", she told both of them, "now out of my sight" _ _All three of them made an exit and Rebecca left to meet someone. Ariana looked at the guy. Both of them were embarrassed._ "_Hey! I'm sorry about the whole thing", said the guy, "I'm Daniel Humphrey, you can call me Dan", he said taking his hand out of his pockets and offering a handshake"._ "_Hey! I'm Ariana Brown, you can call me AB or Ary", she said smiling, "I know it's a big place but how come I have never seen you around?"_ "_Well, I'm new here, moved from New York recently"_

_"Oh ok, New York, is it?", she asked eyeing him._ "_Do you want to get some coffee?", he asked_ "_Hmm-", she said, the she looked around for Rebecca, when she found her busy flirting with some guy _ "_Sure" she said._

Ariana had promised to show Dan around the city, slowly after that and the classes they took together they became good friends, and started seeing each other, before they knew it they were in love, and 3 years later Dan proposed and they got married.

* * *

Ariana smiled when she thought of her life and how it had changed for good, but there was something amiss with them, it was because of Dan said her mind, but her heart didn't want to blame him, he was the sweetest guy she had ever known in the world, well apart from her dad, brother, and father-in-law Rufus.

Ariana's eyes then fell upon a photo album, it was dated few years before Dan moved to London, she realized that there was hardly anyone that she recognizes, except her husband, her sister-in law and father-in-law, but after a while even Jenny disappears from those photos. It's only Dan with a few others, she stops at one particular picture, she lets out a gasp, it's because of Dan, his hair was way longer than when he came to London. Then there's a blond girl, who is smiling like she is seducing someone, a guy with a smug look on his face, another handsome guy and next to Dan holding his hand is a brunette, smiling away like she just conquered the world.

Suddenly, it hits her, that these people are the people from his book. He looked so happy with them, wonder what happened that he doesn't even want to talk about it. She then thinks about her life with him, they loved each other and we're crazy about each other. He kept her happy, but it always felt that it would pass. On her first few dates she thought it would pass, but it didn't, when they moved in together she thought it would pass, but it didn't, when he proposed and they were engaged she thought it would pass, but it didn't, when they got married she thought it would pass, but it didn't. There was something amiss in their relationship. Sometimes she just thought it was that psychologist in her who was making it a bigger deal then it was, probably listening to people's problems throughout the whole day made her cynical, and she kept searching for problems, in her otherwise perfect happy life. But now she felt that it was somehow connected to these people, all of them something had happened and Dan shut that part of his life deep down, and refused to let go of him. That was the reason for his sudden space outs. She had to do something about it she decided. If it was hurting her Dan, she would take care of it.

Then she remembered her pregnancy test, and went to check the result; with her fingers crossed she took it in her hand. Though she didn't know that she was crossing her fingers for. When she opened her eyes he saw two bars, indicating that it was positive, and when a she felt the water in her eyes, due to the joy, she knew exactly why she was crossing her fingers, she wanted to call Dan and tell him immediately, but she thought she'd wait till he came back home. Now she had two things to take care of, her husband's problem and their baby.

* * *

So do you like it? Should I continue?


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so here's a new update. **

**For the purposes of this fic, lets assume that Dan was Gossip girl, but the reason was not Serena, but because he wanted to get a break and make it big. I know that may make him sound like a jerk, but he isn't , because there is also a flash back scene(in italics) where he tries to explain everything to the others, but they don't bother. **

**I dont own GG or the charcters, except Ariana Humphrey and Katie Buford**

* * *

**CHAPTER 3**

When Katie Buford walked into the café, she saw that her client was already there, dressed in a black polo and beige trousers he was sitting in his usual place. He stared into his laptop while sipping his coffee. It was signature Daniel Humphrey. He was probably working on his next book, she thought to herself, good for her, the more the books, the more the money she gets.

"Hey there!" she said as she approached his table.

"Ah! ", said Dan, looking at the Patek Philippe on his wrist that his wife had gifted him for his birthday, he added, "Right on time are we?" He always had fun teasing his agent.

"Sarcasm much?" said Katie rolling her eyes.

Dan smiled, "the regular?" he asked and when she nodded he waved to the waiter indicating the order. The waiter knew exactly what to get. Dan frequented the place and Katie, Ariana, or Jenny often accompanied him.

"So what was the exciting news that you refused to tell me on the phone and had to see me in person?" asked Dan.

"Well, remember how popular _An Overwhelming Romance _has become?" she started referring to Dan's latest book.

He smiled, his latest book, _A Overwhelming Romance_, was a huge hit. It was an out-and-out romantic novel, something that he had never done per se. Of course he had written a piece about a boy hopelessly in love with the 'IT girl, but that was long ago. This book was a spin off a mills and boons, and when he was writing it he was amazed at himself for picking up that genre. But with almost half a dozen books published, he wanted to try something new. It was a love story of soldier and a refugee, as clichéd as it sounded; the book was a great hit. His wife teased him about saying that people probably read the book only because they liked his previous books.

"So, this book has been a hit throughout the world, but in New York it's a rage", said Katie.

Dan jerked a bit, when he heard the name of the place, he knew exactly where this conversation was heading, and didn't like it one bit.

"Therefore you HAVE to go New York, for a public appearance and a book reading", she said. This time she was pretty stern. Everyone around Dan Humphrey knew that he had issues with that place, according to him he was pretty subtle while expressing his thoughts, but he wasn't.

"You know that-"

"Dan !Seriously this time there will be no excuse, you have to. You travel throughout the world, for heaven's sake. Why would you possibly not want to go the New York?", looking at his face she added, "Alright I know you've got some issues, but you have to let go of them it's been 5 years since you moved here"

She was right; it had been 5 years since he left the UES behind. 5 happy, blissful years. His life was content, he had the people he loved around him and couldn't have been happier, however, though he would never ever accept it, but he missed his old friends. Sure he had walked away from all of it, and them promising himself to never look back, but there was still a part of him that wanted to see them, one last time, probably just to say good-bye. He never really had a chance to say good-bye to anyone, though he did try once.

"Fine let me think about it", he said.

"Good! And I almost forgot, I know you like keeping your private life private but I think it's time the world sees your wife. You should take Ary along with you", she said, "That poor girl needs a break and a getaway. Imagine the torture she must undergo she stays with you.

"Actually she does" said Dan thinking about his lovely wife.

* * *

Chuck Bass smirked as he read the news. It was an article about a celebrated author whose latest romantic novel was a hit. It was all over the place and everyone seemed to be talking about it. It irked him, especially now when things were going rough between him and his wife. Both of them loved each other, and everyone thought that they had an epic love story, but all was not well in the love paradise. Both of them had become too involved with their careers and this created a distance between, not only them but also their 3 year old son, Henry. They hardly spoke to each other, and whenever they did, all they did was argue. Both of them were fed up of the drama, but neither wanted to be the first one to accept that they were probably not working. Now with everyone humming Humphrey's name, he couldn't help but feel insecure about them and their marriage.

A few years ago his wife, Blair had left Dan to be with Chuck, but now with their marriage on the rocks, Dan would have the last laugh. Dan, the same man who Chuck had once treated as a friend, but he betrayed him and the others. True, Dan had tried to make amends one last time, but no one bothered. He was Dan Humphrey, whatever he did; he would never be a part of their world. But now that Chuck thought of it, he didn't exactly know what 'their world' meant. He knew that all of them missed Dan, but would never acknowledge it. Well, atleast Nate was better than, all of them, he atleast thought that they should give Dan a chance, but Blair and Serena convinced him against it.

"_So he wrote us all letters? Explaining why he did all this and saying that he was sorry but couldn't help it?" asked Nate Archibald_

"_Yes! And after all this if he thinks that we would forgive him he's mistaken", said Blair Waldorf, "can you believe it? He was gossip girl! Ah! The mess that he created"_

"_But to be fair, he did stop posting after our accident"_

"_That he did", said Nate_

"_But all of this so he could get a break? Isn't that a bit too low?", asked Serena._

_Dan Humphrey via letters told his friends that he was Gossip Girl, and he did what he did just to get a break, it was 'nothing personal' the letters said._

"_I think we should just let it go", said Nate, he still did consider Dan his friend._

"_Alright, but doesn't mean, that we forgive him and go to that place that he invited us to", said Blair._

"_What's the point then? How would he know that we've forgiven him?", argued Nate_

"_Who said anything about forgiving? I just don't want to think about him anymore. We can move on with our lives, and forget there was ever a Humphrey in our lives", said Blair._

"_But-"_

_Before Nate could say anything, she cut him off, "Archibald! Need I remind you all the things that he has done to us, and besides he could never be one of us"_

_They all agreed, conveniently forgetting that all of them in the room had done equally, and if not, far worse things in their lives._

_On the other end of the city, Dan Humphrey was hoping that the people who he cared about would come over; he had explained everything to them through his letters and hoped that they would forget it, and move on. Looking at the time he realized that they wouldn't come. He knew that he had to leave for London without saying good-bye._

* * *

Serena van der Woodsen looked at her hands, the huge rock shinning on her wrist, her boyfriend Carter Baizen had proposed to her last night when they were returning from their trip from the Bahamas and now she couldn't wait to tell her best friend the news. Although she wasn't exactly sure how Blair would react. As she looked up, she spot Blair, she was looking around searching for Serena.

"B! Over here she called out"

Blair Waldorf Bass looked at her best friend, she was beaming and walked over to her to hug her and then sat opposite her. Serena noticed that Blair looked even more tired than the last time she saw her a few weeks ago, before she left for the Bahamas.

"How was your trip? Did you guys have fun?" asked Blair pretending to be interested. She loved Serena, but didn't see why she would be with Carter.

"Looks like you didn't notice something", said Serena raising her hand so that it would let Blair see the ring.

"Oh my god!" said Blair, "You have to be kidding me"

"Come on B! Can't you be happy for me?"

"Yes I was the last two times you got married, and we all know how that turned out"

"Oh B! Come on, can't you try not being yourself for once, and try being nice and sweet for a change"

Blair rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe her best friend, she was the one who always made wrong decisions, and she had the audacity to blame Blair for not supporting her.

"I know that you never really approved of Carter, but I thought that may be you could be happy for me atleast", said Serena, then seeing the look on Blair's face she added, "And I also know that my last two marriages couldn't work, but was that all my fault? And Just because of that you thinkI shouldn't move on and be happy?"

Blair knew that she couldn't do anything about the situation with Serena, the old Blair would probably have tried to manipulate the situation, but this Blair was too tired for all that, she had too much on her mind. All she could do was hope the best for Serena, which she did, and be there for her when and if the marriage failed, which she would, like the last two times. But it frustrated her that every single time Serena messed up, Blair would have to be the one dealing with it and it wasn't like Blair herself didn't have a share of problems to deal with, she most certainly did, with her company, her husband, her child. But she loved her friend and had to do it for her.

"Fine!" she said, finally giving in.

"Good! Thank you", beamed Serena. True, she did look happy, but then she looked equally happy when Steven Spence and Nate had proposed.

"How is Michelle doing?", she asked enquiring about Serena's year old daughter with Nate.

"Oh she's fine and Carter is so good with her, it's just so adorable. How is my little nephew?"

"He's fine, he's out with Daddy and Ramon", she said looking at the table next to them, suddenly aware of the high school girls giggling and discussing about a book.

"I know this Daniel Humphrey's book is so awesome", said one of the girls. That name froze Serena and Blair for a few seconds, after he left New York, neither of them bothered about him, so much so that they pretended like they didn't even know him and no one ever spoke of him. Even when his other books released, they pretended like they didn't care, but neither knew that the other one had secretly caught a glimpse of the book, or read it.

They could go on pretending like he didn't mean anything to them, but he did. They were not in love with him, but they missed him, he was their best friend afterall. They didn't know anything about his life, they just knew that he was in London, but that was only because of Eric. He was still friends with Dan, though Eric stayed in Paris, he knew exactly what was happening with Dan's life. But no one really discussed it.

"I think we should get going", said Blair breaking the silence.

"Hmm"

* * *

SO how do you like it? Any suggestions?


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